Scalable Gateway Security Solution Behind $500,000 Project

When an international financial services client asked for assistance with its Web filtering security technology, solutions provider K logix found itself tackling not only the Internet usage aspect of the challenge but also addressing the business data security facet of the project. “This was a very large installation — 10,000 seats in the United States and another 13,000 in Canada — and we needed to manage the dynamic nature of the Internet so we could allow for productivity online while securing the network and its critical data,” explains Kevin West, CEO of K logix. The challenges lay not only in the vast size of the client’s network, but also in address-ing the fact that there were few, if any, user policies around Internet access. In particular, the Cana-dian side of the customer’s business allowed unfettered usage. West, who often launches his sales pitch with a conversation about the value of a business’ critical data, explains that a key to the sale was raising the customer’s awareness of the high risk of lacking a network user policy. “Early on, the VP of HR told us she only was worried about blocking certain websites for productivity reasons. She didn’t care about network security because she didn’t think it affected her,” he says. “We had to explain how the Internet exposes you to threats, and that those threats are after Social Security numbers, credit card information, and personal information.” West says that conversation is common and key to his company’s sales approach. “You can use the technology to lead you to a business discussion that causes people to react and allows you to make a sale.”

Security Without Impact On Productivity Key To Solution
Once K logix had the attention of decision makers within the financial services company, it moved forward with the $500,000 deployment, installing Websense Security Gateway, a product geared specifically to handle the dynamic nature of Internet and today’s unbridled Web 2.0 content. The software product analyzes Web traffic in real time, proactively discovering risks and blocking malware, even from ever-changing Web 2.0 sites. The solutions provider layered the Websense product over existing antivirus and desktop-based security products in place at the business, part of the K logix multitiered approach to security. Then it tackled usage rules. “As we were building this infrastructure, we worked with the business and the technology sides to create standards that allowed their employees to be productive without threatening the entire business network,” says West. “Half the battle with this installation [which took 13 months] was organizing meetings with HR and heads of different units [such as compliance and legal] to land on the best-practice policy.” To accomplish that task, K logix uses a best practices checklist with dozens of categories and subcategories to review areas of Internet usage policy that relate to security, liability, compliance, and more.

West says when dealing with his typical customer, often a midsized enterprise client with more than 500 seats, the sales pitch is all about protecting the business data and less about traditional antivirus or endpoint security. “As we talked more about data and the threat to that data from Internet usage, we started interacting more with compliance staff, plus HR, and the technologists on staff, and then the decision starts to move along more quickly,” he explains, adding that enterprise clients are a ripe market. “Those businesses are not paying enough attention to the threat landscape. They have spent millions at the gateway, but the Internet changed, and now you have Web 2.0, Web applications, and users who are more savvy. Businesses need to understand that their security solutions need to evolve to protect their critical data.”